Description

Stanko Radikon was one of the most respected winemakers from Friuli-Venezia Giulia. He died in 2016 after complications from cancer leaving his 11-hectare estate to his son Saša and wife Suzana. Radikon estate is located in Oslavia, in an area of Friuli-Venezia Giulia called Isonzo, right on the border with Slovenia and close to Germany. Both languages, with the addition of Italian and some local dialects, are spoken in the area which is a patchwork of different cultures.

Saša Radikon, like his father, works with no chemicals in the vineyards or in the cellar and with no sulfites. Stanko always a championed working without sulfur dioxide, a very difficult technique to implement. And now Saša is following in his father’s footsteps. All Radikon wines are majestic, highly structured, and very stable. Extended maceration on the skins, another very difficult and expensive technique to master, is the norm. Natural winemakers from around the world are often in awe when approaching Radikon’s wines; their purity, robustness, and olfactory profiles being hard to match.

Vinification: “The ‘RS’ or ‘Rosso Sasa’ was first introduced in 2014, and had its sequels in 2017 and 2018. It belongs to the 750-ml ‘S-line,’ with the ‘S’ acknowledging its creator, Sasa Radikon. Pignolo is a native variety of Friuli-Venezia Giulia that’s been making a bit of a comeback in recent years. Pignolo has a profile not unlike Merlot – plummy, blackberry fruit, supple texture, etc.

The grapes are de-stemmed, then both grapes and must go into truncated wooden fermentors (25HL) and are co-fermented for 15 days on their skins, with punch down a few times each day. Aged in used barriques for 3 years and further aged in bottle for 6 months prior to release.”